Gateway to Knowledge Guest Post #3

Rep. Frank Wolf and William "Jake" Jacobs, chief of interpretive programs at the Library of Congress, cut the ribbon on the Gateway to Knowledge traveling exhibition in Winchester, Va., the first venue for the tour outside of Washington, D.C. Also pictured at left are Josh Van Gelder, tour docent, and Kathy Ott, director of congressional relations for the Library of Congress.

This is the third in a series of guest posts by Abigail Van Gelder, who with her husband, Josh, have set out across the country on the Library’s “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition.  The rolling exhibit launched Sept. 25 at the National Book Festival.  She originally wrote this post yesterday:

You don’t have to twist my arm to get me heading for the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley, a perfect place to host our second tour stop.  While Josh and I have crossed paths with Winchester, VA on other tours we had yet to been able to make it a stop.  Luckily the Gateway to Knowledge made that happen and allowed us to share in the charm of this community.  When the staff of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley opened the gates for us on Sunday evening I did not expect to be greeted by a herd of cows.  The stunning gardens within the museum grounds also contain pasture for a group of curious calves, mooing their welcomes and getting our little dog Pippi fired up.

The event kicked off Monday morning with Congressman Frank Wolf there to perform a ribbon cutting ceremony and welcome the first guests, the 8th grade class from James Wood Middle School.  Some folks are surprised to hear that Josh was a history teacher before we started traveling; needless to say we both truly enjoy having school groups visit.

On Tuesday we had 90 kids from John Keen Elementary School who made the walk over to join us.  They were all full of questions and seemed to enjoy the section about Spiderman most.  We had a blast joking around with them while they all waited for a break in the rain to walk back to school.  A very special treat in Winchester was the turnout from home school groups.  We were filled both days with some very curious kids and wonderful parents, a few even had work with lesson plans from loc.gov/teachers before coming.

It’s a pretty amazing drive between Winchester and Cumberland [Maryland], I have to say the miles are rolling past today.

A New Catalog in Town

The following is a guest post by Donna Scanlon, Electronic Resources Coordinator in our Collections and Services Directorate.  (Donna used to contribute to “Inside Adams,” the blog of the Science, Technology and Business Division): If you have been in any of the Library of Congress reading rooms lately you may have had an opportunity to …

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Make Your National Book Festival Battle Plan

We try to give book-lovers as much information as possible about the National Book Festival, in a useful way, on our website.  It might seem a little daunting, what with six author pavilions and numerous other attractions spread out across four city blocks on the National Mall and a sea of about 130,000 other people …

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‘Gateway to Knowledge’ Now Rolling Toward D.C.

After a very long time in the planning stages, our “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition is finally becoming a reality. We were emailed a photo today (shown at right) that got everyone buzzing.  It’s the first picture I have seen of the actual truck, rather than a rendering.  (Don’t worry; I don’t think it was …

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By Jove, It’s a Video Treasure Trove!

The following is a guest post by Mike Mashon, head of the Moving Image Section of the Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division.  You might already have seen news about this fascinating discovery of scores of old British TV broadcasts, but we wanted you to know the full story about just how the programs were found:

It was, in the end, a combination of serendipity and dogged research. Toss in a web database maintained by a dedicated group of British TV obsessives, and the result was the discovery in the Library’s collections of nearly 70 teleplays previously considered lost by the British Film Institute. Included in this amazing group are early performances by such notables as John Gielgud, Maggie Smith, Derek Jacobi, and—two years before he achieved global fame as James Bond—Sean Connery.

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Download Our iPhone App the QR Way

As is the case with many technologies, especially the mobile variety, the Japanese have been ahead of the rest of us for a while on something that has only recently begun to catch fire everywhere else: “QR Codes.”  (QR=quick response.)  If you’re not familiar, they are 2D barcodes that represent strings of letters, numbers and …

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TONIGHT: Free ‘Hardcover Mysteries’ Tickets Going Fast

Looking for something free and “thrilling” to do in the DC area this evening? There are still tickets left for our special “Hardcover Mysteries” program tonight at 7 p.m. in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium.  The event features mystery authors David Baldacci, Sandra Brown and Kathy Reichs, who will discuss their writing careers, the inspirations for …

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